Studio Drummer – Chart Reading – First things First!

FIRST THINGS FIRST:

When I get a chart on a session I do the following;

I figure out the ‘road map’ so to speak. 

Are there repeats? Is there a DS, is there a DC, is there a DS al coda?

What are the dynamic markings, are there tacits, are there rals or rits, first and second endings etc?

By the way, never feel bad about clearing up issues around a chart and the way it’s ‘reading down’ so to speak.  What often happens is that you’re actually noticing a chart error on a session before the other musicians.  This happens very frequently since producers and writers are often cramming to finish a chart for a session.  At the very least it shows that you have a reading awareness and producers take note and appreciate this fact.

Then I move to tricky rhythmical phrases, ones that I don’t immediately recognize and I take a moment to interpret them.

*ONCE I’VE ESTABLISHED THAT I MOVE TO A PERSONAL TRICK THAT I USE THAT YOU MIGHT WANT TO INCORPORATE.* 

A lot of chart writers put a different amount of bars on each stave.  This can be annoying and confusing if you’re looking away from the chart constantly.  What I do is I mark 4 and 8 bar sections all the way down the chart with a pencil.  Being that we normally feel western music in 4 and 8 bar phrases this is something you should try.  I’ve found it to be a very helpful navigational tool.

This way if I have a poorly written, hard to decipher chart that has different bar amounts on each line (and perhaps no chord changes written so it’s just a bar chart)  I can look away from the chart and look back and immediately know where I am.  This little trick has been invaluable to me over the years.

Since we have the unenviable task of playing such a physical instrument as well as not being able to look directly at the chart as well as having to so constantly divert our eyes away from the chart, every little helper we can discover for ourselves will be most helpful!

tune in for the next installment regarding reading tips!

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Studio Drummer – Chart Reading – Lead Sheets

*LEAD SHEETS.*

A very real challenge for drummers is that 90 % of the time when you’re on a session you will get what’s known as a ‘lead sheet’ as a chart.  I personally love lead sheets because they don’t confine you as a player so much.  What they are is a general layout of the song or piece of music for all of the musicians. 

Lead sheets encompass the road map aspects that we’ve talked about, the chord changes, the melody and the rhythmic figures of the song.  Yet the rhythmic figures can sometimes imply figures for the entire ensemble or just for specific members.  What is good is that this process is most often left to be additionally refined by the session players.  On a lead sheet you will have a notated rhythmic phrase.  However it is not notated in a drumistic sort of way.  It is a general notation or musical rhythmic phrase.

So your challenge as a reading drummer is to intimately know rhythmic phrases that most often arise. That way you can apply them around the drum kit in any number of ways, subtlety or flamboyantly without a lot of needless forethought.

These notations are not written out in drum language so to speak so you have to know how to interpret them quickly and effectively around the drum kit.

*READING AHEAD.*

You have to develop the skill of reading ahead.  What this means is that you are playing a passage while reading a chart.  You are playing with full intensity and artistry but you have to concentrate on looking ahead on the chart to something that may be a stumbling block such as a rhythmic figure, groove change or a rit etc.  It’s true multi-tasking!

This requires that you continue with your unfettered playing and intensity while continuously counting, which is always necessary and with the anticipation and mental preparation of the upcoming event.  This again takes time and experience but it comes with practice. 

tune in for the next installment of Chart Reading Tips!

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Studio Drummer – Chart Reading – ‘Musicians Shorthand’

*MUSICIAN’S SHORTHAND.*

If you’re experienced in studio work or chart reading you’ll notice one of these 3 situations arising constantly.

1. Charts are so messy you can’t read them.  For example, I remember a David Foster chart.  It was so messy it was almost unreadable!  But it was David Foster’s hand script.

2. Certain rhythmic figures are so messy you can’t read them. 

3. Certain rhythmic figures are written in an incorrect way, which are not easily recognizable to you.  These figures may amount to the same thing mathematically but they do not adhere to the rules of how figures are supposed to be written.

After you’ve been reading for some time you come to recognize many standard figures.  This is also good news since you don’t have to even think about them. You will just come to know how to handle and interpret them around the kit.   Yet you will encounter some chart writers who are unaware of these rules about writing rhythmic figures. 

I have what I’d call a drummer’s shorthand where I can quickly decode a figure and jot it down either on the stave or just above or below it.  I use the snare notes on the 2 and 4, which I notate as the constant and work the figure around the 2 and 4 as if I were grooving through the figure and catching the shots at the same time.  It probably wouldn’t be decipherable to anyone else but that doesn’t matter in this case.  As long as I understand it that’s all that matters.

I also may not be required to groove through this passage.  I may be required to hit clean and syncopated shots.  But this method still works very well for this too.

It gives me a quick and easy way to decode a phrase without spending precious time holding up a session.

*A FINE MUSICIAN ONCE TOLD ME THAT EVERY ACCOMPLISHED MUSICIAN HAS HIS OR HER OWN FORM OF SHORTHAND.*

It only makes sense that this would be the case.  Write your own charts, even for the practice.  It is very good to get into writing your own drum charts.  It gets you even more acquainted with all the symbols and terminology and develops your own writing and correct interpretation of hand written musical phrases and dynamic notations.  It also develops your ability to hear a phrase with your ears and translate it to paper, very important!

For me personally I have spent and still do spend considerable extra time making sure that I’ve interpreted and more importantly wrote out the phrase correctly so that it becomes more common place in my own mind.

This is one of those skill areas that requires constant upkeep and revisiting to maintain, but it’s essential. 

However, I want to return to the issue of personal chart writing!

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Studio Drummer – Chart Reading Installment 3.. More info!

*IF YOU’RE A CHART READER THEN READ ON…*

If you have experience reading music from a drum set perspective you will know the challenges it represents.  We can of course count ourselves lucky that we’re not piano players reading 2 staves of music simultaneously or 3 staves if you’re an organist!  I honestly don’t know how they process that much information!

However there are challenges that pertain to our instrument that are unique to drum kit playing.

The biggest one is that we play an intensely physical instrument, the most intense of instruments in this physical capacity.  Reading a chart while playing with the utmost physicality is a highly challenging skill!

And of course sometimes you hit the ditch so to speak.  This is inevitable for even the best of the best.  Another issue that other musicians don’t have to deal with is that we have to set up our charts either set up 90 degrees left or 90 degrees right. 

The music is never directly in front of us. It has to be set up on the left or right.  I personally set up on either side depending on where the MD is.  That way I have a direct sight line to the musical director for cues etc by looking just above my music stand.

Add the often immense physicality to this mix and you can guess what happens very quickly.

*IT’S EXTREMELY EASY TO GET LOST ON A CHART.*

 A lot of players need to look exactly where they are playing as they go around the kit doing fills or locating cymbals and when that is the case the problem only intensifies since that player is required to disconnect from the chart to perform what he must be able to see in his execution.

As a side note to this point you may want to get in the habit, as I have for years, of not having to look at the physical instruments.  My setup is exactly the same every time I set up.  I use the same kit and I know exactly where everything is situated.  I don’t have to look at it.  This greatly alleviates this whole problem.

There are very valuable tricks that I use that I’ve incorporated myself.  I’ve not heard of other drummers using these helpful tricks although I know that every experienced player has their own way of dealing with these types of issues.  Anyway I’m happy to pass them along to you!

watch for installment 4!  Good info!

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